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CH Has Three Different Sounds in English: A Must-Know Pronunciation Rule for IELTS Success

English pronunciation can be confusing even for advanced speakers. The same letters produce different sounds, which vary according to different words. The combination of letters CH serves as a suitable demonstration. Our IELTS coaching program at Tiju's Academy teaches students to achieve perfect pronunciation patterns, which help them speak English with clear, confident, naturalness.

Do you want to understand why the words chair and chemistry and chef produce such different sounds despite all three using CH?

Why CH Pronunciation Matters for IELTS

The IELTS Speaking band scores depend on correct pronunciation, which serves as a critical assessment factor. Examiners look at:

  • Clarity
  • Accuracy of sounds
  • Natural pronunciation patterns

Your grammar strength will not help you when you mispronounce common letter combinations because this will make your speech harder to understand. Tiju's Academy pronunciation training program teaches sound patterns to students instead of using guesswork methods.

Sound 1: CH = /tʃ/ (The Most Common Sound)

This is the sound most learners already know.

Examples:

  • chair
  • child
  • chocolate
Here, your tongue stops the air for a short time before it releases the air sound chhh.

 

The sound exists in multiple English words that people use in everyday life, which makes it necessary to learn to achieve spoken English proficiency.

Sound 2: CH = /k/ (The Greek Origin Sound)

TheGreek words which English speakers use as borrowed words will have CH pronounced as K.

Examples:

  • chemistry
  • chorus
  • school
The sound creates difficulties for IELTS students because they need to pronounce “che-mistry” instead of “ke-mistry”. At Tiju's Academy, we assist students in learning word origin patterns to help them achieve faster pronunciation results.

 

Sound 3: CH = /ʃ/ (The Soft SH Sound) 

The French language brings this sound into words, which produce a smooth and soft quality.

The following words serve as examples of the sound.

  • chef
  • machine
  • brochure
The CH sound in this word produces an SH sound, which you should not pronounce as ch. The sound enhances your speech delivery through its polished and confident effect, which IELTS examiners can detect immediately.

 

How Learning Sound Patterns Improves Fluency

The three distinct English CH sounds require understanding for better speaking. The three reasons CH sounds should be learned are to help you speak more clearly and confidently, to prevent common IELTS pronunciation errors, to enhance your listening skills, and to produce authentic, fluent speech. The pattern-based learning method serves as the main advantage of Tiju Academy IELTS coaching because students learn word pronunciation through understanding word origins.

Join the Best IELTS Coaching Centre in Kerala

Tiju's Academy’s IELTS program provides dedicated pronunciation practice and actual speaking exercises, and professional instructors who assist students in achieving their desired band score. The program offers you the opportunity to improve your English pronunciation at native speaker level. Join now at Tiju’s Academy to speak confidently and ace your IELTS exam!